The result may not have been as emphatic as the win back in April, but Régis Le Bris’ Lorient side have once again taken points off Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes. This time, Les Merlus were able to fend off a new-look lineup for Luis Enrique’s first game in charge.
The opening exchanges of the match saw the hosts dominate possession – as high as 90% in the first 20 minutes – but lacked any tangible attacking edge, as their forays forward were mostly limited to tedious build-up around the Lorient box.
By the time the break came, the champions had enjoyed four-fifths of possession – but there was still no way through Les Merlus‘ defence. Régis Le Bris’ men would launch a few counter-attacks of their own – notably with Laurent Abergel’s drive up the pitch – but PSG’s new-look defence were equal to them.
The second half followed the same pattern – although cracks did begin to appear in the visitors’ defence, as increasingly clear-cut chances came PSG’s way. The impressive Manuel Ugarte saw a close-range shot blocked, before Gonçalo Ramos sent a header just wide of the post.
Although there was no way through the Lorient defence, there were some promising debut performances for the hosts – most of all from Manuel Ugarte in midfield. With the upcoming addition of Ousmane Dembélé – and, who knows, a return for Kylian Mbappé? – will go some way towards resolving the issues going forward.
Paris Saint-Germain player ratings
Gianluigi Donnarumma, 6
Achraf Hakimi, 5
Danilo Pereira, 7
Milan Škriniar, 6 – A fantastic debut from the Slovakian, who looked assured throughout the game and comfortably dealt with the few Lorient attacks that came his way.
Lucas Hernandez, 6
Warren Zaïre-Emery, 5
Manuel Ugarte, 7 – An confident debut from the Uruguayan, who was able to break up most of Lorient’s potential attacks before they even started, and did not look out of place technically in his occasional forays up the pitch.
Vitinha, 5
Marco Asensio, 5 – The Spaniard was involved in some near combinations with his new attacking partners, although none of them were incisive enough to cause any trouble to Lorient. A promising start, though, with the Spaniard finding himself heavily involved. Replaced by his compatriot Carlos Soler.
Gonçalo Ramos, 5 – The Portuguese international combined well with Asensio and Kang-in Lee, but saw very few clear-cut chances come his way. An encouraging debut in his willingness to get involved with build-up play, and some good positioning in the box. Have PSG finally found their number nine?
Kang-in Lee, 6
Lorient player ratings:
Yvon Mvogo, 6
Gédéon Kalulu, 6
Julien Laporte, 6
Montassar Talbi, 7
Bamo Meïté, 7 – An imposing performance from the Ivorian, who was key in making sure that PSG’s quick combinations around the box never came to anything, and made some key interceptions.
Vincent Le Goff, 6
Romain Faivre, 4
Laurent Abergel, 6 – As ever a calming presence in midfield, who was able to hold onto the ball for as long as possible in the visitors’ brief spells of possession. An impressive drive up the pitch in the first half which caused panic in the PSG defence.
Jean-Victor Makengo, 5
Théo Le Bris, 5
Bamba Dieng, 4
GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin
